diff --git a/internal/recipe/loader.go b/internal/recipe/loader.go
index c7d960b..b4ac37d 100644
--- a/internal/recipe/loader.go
+++ b/internal/recipe/loader.go
@@ -32,26 +32,26 @@ func Load(path string, userParams map[string]any) (*Recipe, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("yaml parse: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	// Apply defaults
+	// Apply defaults + user --param overrides
 	if r.Parameters == nil {
 		r.Parameters = make(map[string]Parameter)
 	}
-	params := make(map[string]any)
+	r.ResolvedParams = make(map[string]any)
 	for name, p := range r.Parameters {
 		if v, ok := userParams[name]; ok {
-			params[name] = v
+			r.ResolvedParams[name] = v
 		} else if p.Default != nil {
-			params[name] = p.Default
+			r.ResolvedParams[name] = p.Default
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Render templates (so {{.package_path}} becomes "internal")
+	// Render templates with resolved values
 	tpl, err := template.New("recipe").Parse(string(parts[2]))
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	var rendered bytes.Buffer
-	if err := tpl.Execute(&rendered, params); err != nil {
+	if err := tpl.Execute(&rendered, r.ResolvedParams); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	body := rendered.String()
diff --git a/internal/recipe/runner.go b/internal/recipe/runner.go
index 9eb3791..347ddb1 100644
--- a/internal/recipe/runner.go
+++ b/internal/recipe/runner.go
@@ -85,15 +85,15 @@ Execute this step now. Respond ONLY with the expected output format — no expla
 func (r *Runner) discoverFiles() []string {
 	var files []string
 
-	// Get root from parameter or default
-	root := "internal"
-	if p, ok := r.Recipe.Parameters["package_path"]; ok {
-		if def, ok := p.Default.(string); ok && def != "" {
-			root = def
+	// Get root from --param or default
+	root := "."
+	if v, ok := r.Recipe.ResolvedParams["package_path"]; ok {
+		if s, ok := v.(string); ok && s != "" {
+			root = s
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Build set of allowed extensions from recipe frontmatter
+	// Build allowed extensions from recipe frontmatter
 	allowedExt := make(map[string]bool)
 	for _, lang := range r.Recipe.ProjectLanguages {
 		if exts, ok := r.Recipe.Extensions[lang]; ok {
@@ -107,10 +107,9 @@ func (r *Runner) discoverFiles() []string {
 		if err != nil || d.IsDir() {
 			return nil
 		}
-		ext := filepath.Ext(path)
-		if allowedExt[ext] {
+		if allowedExt[filepath.Ext(path)] {
 			b, _ := os.ReadFile(path)
-			if strings.Contains(string(b), "if err != nil") { // this is still Go-specific for now; we can generalize later
+			if strings.Contains(string(b), "if err != nil") {
 				files = append(files, path)
 			}
 		}
diff --git a/internal/recipe/types.go b/internal/recipe/types.go
index 55b392a..d59a950 100644
--- a/internal/recipe/types.go
+++ b/internal/recipe/types.go
@@ -7,10 +7,13 @@ type Recipe struct {
 	Parameters           map[string]Parameter `yaml:"parameters"`
 	AllowedShellCommands []string             `yaml:"allowed_shell_commands"`
 
-	// New fields for generic file discovery (option 2)
+	// Generic discovery support (option 2)
 	ProjectLanguages []string            `yaml:"project_languages"`
 	Extensions       map[string][]string `yaml:"extensions"`
 
+	// Resolved runtime values from --param flags
+	ResolvedParams map[string]any `yaml:"-"`
+
 	// Internal fields populated by loader
 	Overview           string `yaml:"-"`
 	Steps              []Step `yaml:"-"`